The Blog

Words by Sophie

It is beginning to look a lot like Christmas and so a seasonal blog for you this week! How can a Christmas song help us to prepare for an empowering birth? Good question you might say!

Well firstly I would like you to think about the feelings conjured up when a song like last Christmas comes on the radio or better yet take a moment to stick on a Christmas tune and note the feelings conjured.

You might (like myself) feel so excited and flooded with good memories associated with the season or if you are not a fan (especially if you work in retail and have been hearing them since November!) you may feel annoyance and those more negative memories you associate with the season!

But there is no doubt that, whether good or bad, powerful memories and feelings come to the surface when the music triggers us.

So why is this?

There are two reasons:

Firstly, the part of our brain that governs our instinctive actions, our emotions and our memory is one and the same. You will all have experienced a sudden rush of long-forgotten memory when you smell something that transports you right back there. Or hear a sound and suddenly you remember something you haven’t thought about in years. This is also the same part of your brain.

Secondly, our subconscious mind is the governor of almost all our actions. We have stored data into what is basically our super computer. This is then scanned in a nanosecond every time our brain needs to decide on anything.

If you love Christmas as much as I do, then you will have so many positive memories and emotions regarding this season. You will have spent all the years on this earth listening to Christmas songs, both consciously and unconsciously from shops, radio and walking past others playing them, seeing the twinkly lights and the colourful decorations. These connections between the stimulus (music, smells, lights) and these feelings have been developed over time and are so strong.

When my supercomputer subconscious mind searches for Christmas related emotion, memory and feeling I can’t help but feel excited, even conjure up the smell of a pine Christmas tree and images of fairy lights in windows as soon as I hear a Christmas song (especially driving home for Christmas). I am flooded with the hormone Oxytocin and I feel great.

If this season is a stress trigger for you then again anything you hear or see will trigger those negative feelings and too many stress hormones (adrenaline)

How can this help me as I prepare for birth you ask?

Well I am not saying play Christmas songs as you prepare for birth (but you totally can if you want). What I am saying is be aware of the huge power that we have within us. How the effect (good or bad) that hearing a Christmas tune has on us is a brilliant example of this.

Being aware of just how sensitive we are to the three S’s - sounds, smells and surroundings. We are even more sensitive to these things when pregnant, giving birth and as a new mother. So, what can you do from now on to make you feel really good. How can you use the three S’s?

And finally think about all the things that make you feel great. Your emotional triggers for feelings of calm, love, and safety. Supercharge those things now, the more you do the larger the folder in your supercomputer and the faster it can be accessed on the day you birth your baby!

Would you like to come see us for a huge boost of confidence, information, and empowerment? Would you like to gain tools to help you step firmly into the power you have within you? To get feeling great and like you can navigate your individual path to birth your baby? We are taking bookings well into 2018 now so head to our website here for all the details.